Ice Climbing- Footwork

[Chad_A]

Trying to prepare myself for (hopefully) a good upcoming season of ice climbing. People seem to talk about the swing of the ice tool often enough. More or less, I have that sorted.

 

The issue that haunts me in ice climbing is foot trust. I've been told everything from "kick it hard; hammer it out and make your own foothold" to "place your feet on features and use rock climbing-like footwork to increase efficiency. If it's a sheet of ice, you still shouldn't have to kick that hard".

 

I'm still experimenting with horizontal vs. vertical frontpoints; one of the problems, I believe, is that in experimenting, glacial ice/seracing (the closest reliable ice to PDX ) doesn't behave the same as a formed flow of water ice.

 

At any rate, just looking for techniques and/or mind tricks that people do/use to get their foot trust on the upside...and the arm pumpage on the downside.

 

Oh, and yes, I have Gadd's book, Luebben's book, and I do remember as much as I can to keep my damn heels low.

 

-Chad

[G-spotter]

climb a couple of pitches with tools but no crampons. that'll give you footwork!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Not that you probably aren't climbing ice better than me since last season anyways, but I learned a lot TRing an easy/moderate pitch with only one tool (one walking axe is fun too). It really forces you to rely/focus on your feet if you want to make any upward progress.

[Chad_A]

Dru- forgot about that. Won't work on seracs (unless I find a real gentle one), but will be great on an easy WI climb.

 

Stewart- Should I try that on lead?

[salbrecher]

Bolted mixed climbing was the best way for me to improve footwoork (and overall tecnique for that matter). climbing on different types of ice; thin smears, fragil, plastic, airated, and slushy ice with the protection of bolts allows you to focus on what you can get away with on different types of ice and experiment without the consequences of a fall. i was and still am amazed at how well delicate foot placements hold in all types of ice and how rarely they blow.

[Chad_A]

Thanks for the response. I'll keep that in mind when I'm up at Haffner this year

[dbconlin]

This is really basic, but hasn't been mentioned yet. Drop the heel. That helped me a ton when I was starting, and I continue to have to remind myself from time to time. It is a little counter-intuitive when you are on the ice, especially at first and if you don't trust your feet so much to begin with. But once you get used to it, it really helps your feet stick and take the weight off your arms.

[Chad_A]

Oh, and yes, I have Gadd's book, Luebben's book, and I do remember as much as I can to keep my damn heels low.

 

-Chad

 

Yeah, I thought of that one, but thanks for the thought anyway

[arentz]

I know one tool was mentioned, but top roping with no tools, using ice features for your hands, forces you to use your feet in a very different way. Almost feels like rock climbing, which has helped me a lot on steeper ice. I also learned this year in Alaska that climbing ice with a heavy pack rapidly improves your footwork. I share your broad experience with different crampons (i started out with vertical dual points, switched to vertical mono's and now climb exclusively on horizontal dual points). All of them work, but I like the horizontal points most on mixed terrain. They seem more stable to me.

 

Here's to a good ice season

[Chad_A]

That's great; thanks for that. Maybe later on, I'll throw 20 pounds in the pack, and do laps. (You never know, the extra weight may help the feet plant better...doubt it )

 

What brand of horizontals do you have? Three of my best climbing pals all have Sabretooths (varying degrees of experience) but all swear by them, and I'm beginning to see the light...I just want to get used to them, and the short, but very present, secondary points.

 

Thanks for the post

[layton]

Like before:

Do a few pitches on TR without tools on a WI4.

Stem stem stem stem stem...even if it's straight in, find a stem.

Follow through in your kick.

Sharped your poons.

[Chad_A]

The 'pons are sharp.

 

Wish I had some WI around here to climb without tools on

[arentz]

I have a pair of Grivel's, which I'm really pleased with. I have a climbing partner who also raves about his bd crampons. I'm not sure the two brands are all that differents (mine have pretty aggresive secondary points as well). And I agree with the other post... stemming is your friend.

 

cheers

[eric8]

the brand of crampon you have probably doesn't matter a whole lot for pure water ice routes.

 

I like to spend the first day of the season climbing thin ice routes on top rope and try to only hook. This improves both your footwork and gives you a feel for your tools.

[Jens]

Man Eric It could just be your superman strength!

_________________________________

As for footwork, experiment and find your own style.

[Don_Serl]

chad,

 

a few comments, based on recent experiences while co-ordinating a cpl days on the seracs with a variety of climbers (including some newbies) for the ACC :

 

1. people seem to instinctively know how to swing and place tools, and (except for a few women who lack the strength) 'good sticks' are seldom a problem. as well, people generally look at their tool placements, but they often do NOT watch their feet. what you're not watching, you're not concentrating on.

 

2. one of the best techniques for improving footwork is to WATCH - you're forced to get your body out from the ice to see between the ice and your torso, and that forces your weight more onto your feet (which is good), plus it allows you to examine the possible placements for your crampons - and they're not all equal (especially on waterfalls, but even on serac-ice; the lower-angled to chosen spot, the easier the placement, and the less 'angle-dependent' the foot position for security).

 

3. i try to get people to be gentle with their crampon placements. i've climbed with a couple really good iceclimbers, and the harder and poorer the ice got, the more delicate their footwork became. personally, i've tried to absorb this into my technique, and pedagogically, i constantly observe over-kicking and seldom see under-placement.

 

4. i try to get people to just swing from the knee down, kinda 'stubbing' their points into the surface. this contributes to the gentle placement noted above, plus it forces a 'body-out-from-the-ice' position, plus it encourages 'heel-down' foot positioning - all good things.

 

5. sharp crampon points penetrate; dull crampons points slide.

 

6. words help for some people; watching 'adds' for others; but in the end, it's mileage that matters. no surprise that the masters live in the Rockies.

 

p.s. i reckon sport-climber newbies take to ice faster than most, cuz they instinctively know how to get into the right body position under the lead tool.

 

cheers, don

[Farrgo]

I would second that swinging from the knee down. When the ice gets really poor, and more verticle, I try to imagine my knee as a hinge and that my thigh is fixed. If you do this and come at the ice with the heal really low, you can really engage your secondary points and feel quite secure.

[Chad_A]

Oooh, good posts

[eric8]

actually I'm fat and weak but my technique is marginally okay so i make up some stuff, occasionally

[selkirk]

Like before:

Do a few pitches on TR without tools on a WI4.

Stem stem stem stem stem...even if it's straight in, find a stem.

Follow through in your kick.

Sharped your poons.

 

First off I have no idea what the hell i'm talking about as I've only been drytooling a dozen times or so, and never been on true water ice but .....

 

I've got a set of Grivel G-12's and like them. The second points are just a touch more aggressive then sabretooths, so it seems like you shouldn't have to droop your heal as much to get contact.

 

From what little drytooling I did last year, Monopoints are the way to go for that. It seems like they'd be bit more squirrely as you only have one point, but I had a hell of a time finding footholds where I could get dual front points on, and only getting one out of two frontpoints on is unstable as hell.

 

I'd like to echo what mike said.

Stem, Stem, stem, stem. If your on a dead vertical and flat wall, stem anyway. For my weakling little ass stemming is the solution to everything, always

 

If your looking to push on single pitch stuff, go leashless ! I don't even have tools intended to be leashless, and cragging I go leashless anyway. It allows much better flow and creattive body positioning/movement, as your not locked into the right tool on the right, and left tool on the left anymore.